What does May 9th mean to me? What does Victory Day mean to you? Holiday of the older generation
This question was answered by adult respondents of the newspaper "Kadetsky Forpost" - teachers, educators, leaders of our school. The question did not leave anyone indifferent. The pages of the sixth issue could not accommodate all the responses and stories. Words of congratulations, sincere confessions, emotional appeals, serious reflections - all this can be read here.
“Our newspaper says that soon the only oral evidence of the Great Patriotic War will be the stories of those who were also told about the war at one time. Today, the GENERATION OF VETERANS' GRANDCHILDREN are people aged approximately 50 to 30. And our grandchildren will only be able to hear family traditions from us. And it is important that the cadets of the SPKU have time to touch more often both here and in their families such testimonies that cannot be replaced either by films or official documents,” say the editors of the “Cadet Outpost” S.V. Stepanov and E.E. Hermann.
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Colonel A.I. Zlagodukhin, teacher-organizer
This is a milestone and date in World War II, and therefore this day is significant not only for Russia! In this war, the greatest courage and heroism was shown by all those who fought on the side of a just cause. World War II showed the line, crossing which you can generally destroy humanity on Earth. The tragedy of the Russians and the pride of the Russians - that's what this day means to me ...
M.V. Lukyanova, teacher of mathematics
Of course, I did not experience the severity of losses, fear of the enemy, but I know about them: my grandfather, a tanker, fought. He is no longer alive...
But on May 9, I am always captured by this inexplicable, filled with warmth and light, the delight of Victory! For me, this day is a celebration of the happy faces of those veterans who are still with us. They go to the parade with orders, their faces glow, in the hands of many there are flowers. Their smiles make it even warmer! On this day, everyone congratulates each other on Victory Day! They sincerely hug, kiss, as if yesterday they did not work together at the workplace, but were in the trenches, under fire ...
T.V. Lubchuk, teacher of computer science
Victory Day…
Firstly, it is gratitude for life - the life of parents, mine, our children.
Secondly, these are memories of my two grandfathers, who went through the whole war and then so did not want to tell me about it.
Grandfather Nikolai Nesynov, who was awarded the medal "For Courage", met the Great Victory in Europe on the "Katyusha", restored two captured cars under fire and drove them to our trenches. And grandfather Mikhail Zinchenko escaped from German captivity twice as a 13-year-old guy, twice from a train that was carrying prisoners to a concentration camp.
Thirdly, this is the strongest desire that our children remember the GREAT feat, to be worthy, real people.
E.A. Zhivolupov, English teacher
My great-grandfather went missing in the first days of the war, and his fate was never found out ... Great-grandmother received only a short notice. My great-grandfather's brother died in a POW camp. This became known recently due to the fact that the documents of the "Stalag" (as the Germans called the camps for prisoners of war soldiers) were discovered. My grandfather and grandmother also fought. They went through the whole war and survived. No, wrong - WON!!!
And since then, the people of the military generation had a saying “If only there was no war”, which they suffered through, felt from personal experience.
Victory Day for me is the victory of good over evil, of life over death. And this victory was given to mankind at the highest price - at the cost of tens of millions of lives of people all over the world, at the cost of great grief, the universal scale of grief ...
I wish everyone only peace, good thoughts and deeds!
E.V. Cherkasova, Head of the Educational Department
This is joy! This is pride in the unusually strong Russian people, all Soviet people! This is the hope for a long peaceful life! In general, this is a great happiness!
L.D. Shutova, Russian language teacher
May 9 is an inexpressible emotion... This is a military parade, father's strong shoulders, and I, sitting on them with multi-colored balloons and a bouquet of flowers, more often tulips or lilacs... This is an endless, mournful column of people to the Eternal Flame, people with tears in their eyes and pain in the voice, when there is such silence that only the ringing of medals on the chests of veterans is heard ... This is a very tasty, burning soldier's porridge straight from the field boiler, which you can only taste on May 9 ... This is the pain that has forever settled in the heart from what you saw for the first time on this day of the film "Cold Summer of 53rd" - a film about the fate of many veterans who were captured ... And also - and this is the main thing - pride in all the people who did not break down, survived and won. Despite everything.
B. V. Prishchep, head of the SPCU
May 9 is a day of pride for my grandfather, who went through the whole war. Being part of a great people and a great state, he contributed to the victory by saying harshly and unequivocally "no" to fascism. Only over the years I began to understand what our ancestors did for us - they saved us from direct slavery and humiliation, from gas chambers and the loss of our native language. A deep bow and boundless gratitude to everyone who was related to the Great Victory!
I.P. Rogozhina, teacher of natural history
What does Victory Day mean to me? First of all, a mournful tribute to memory ... I remember, as a child, when on Victory Day I came to my grandfather to congratulate him on the holiday and listened to a mean story about the war, a picture of how soldiers died defending their Motherland, their family flashed before my eyes, people... They fought for the lives of others. This is holy work!
Victory Day symbolizes the greatness and feat of the Russian people on a scale that changed the fate of the whole world. The war once again showed how in the years of turmoil the strength of the Russian spirit and unity rises and rises!
I.N. Goncharova, teacher of German
Of all the public holidays in the USSR, this was the most solemn and beautiful! On the eve of the television (black and white) concert - the MOST interesting! In the morning songs on the radio, uplifting! Always a solemn rally and - run home to watch the PARADE in Moscow! And this is also the holiday of my grandfathers, who have “all their chests in orders”, a wounded body, a hole on their head from a wound - there is no cranial bone. It’s scary to look, and grandfather says: “Yes, touch it, it doesn’t hurt me!” But they always refused to tell “about the war”! IT'S HARD TO REMEMBER...
Grandfathers are no longer with us, but the holiday remains just as bright and majestic for me and now my family!
ON THE. Yashchenko, head of the educational institution "Mathematics, Informatics"
Although with age and experience a person has a growing number of different sensations, opinions, thoughts about our historical past, but this is a great pride for Russia, for my people, for my belonging to this people. This Victory gives me confidence in the current generation: they will not let you down, they will stand. Should not!
E.V. Shcherbakova, teacher of geography
Every family hears the echoes of the war, and every year it becomes more and more painful to realize that there are fewer and fewer people on whom the future of the country depended. My grandfather Poddubny Ivan Mikhailovich (born 1923-d. 2010) served as a signalman during the war years. He was wounded near Brest and met Pobeda in the hospital. Great-grandfather Shcherbakov Grigory Mikhailovich died at the front, his name is immortalized on one of the pylons of the Veterans Memorial in Novosibirsk. Grandfather Nikulin Dmitry Ivanovich fought under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky, was wounded in 1943 near Kursk. Every year, our family in the circle of loved ones remembers all the Heroes ...
S.V. Popova, teacher of biology
Victory is PRIDE: pride in our grandfathers-heroes who gave their lives for a clear sky above their heads, for confidence in the future, pride in the courage of our people, pride in my Fatherland.
E.K. Levinskaya, head of the OD “Physics. Chemistry. Biology"
For me, the victory in 1945 is a personal memory associated with my family: about my great-grandmother and her tears, her stories about how she survived during the war, about the joy she experienced when she learned that the war was over, and especially the way she fiddled with her apron at that moment, trying to calm down after the surging heavy memories ... These are the medals that I played with as a child, a blue box with letters from my great-grandfather, and a recipe for buckwheat porridge brought from the front. Maybe this does not reflect the great FAITH and HOPE that everyone who fought and died in this war gave us, but my May 9th is very personal and very family.
A.A. Nazarkov, English teacher
For me, the Victory on May 9, 1945 is life. The life of my parents, relatives and friends. The life of the great sons of the twentieth century - people of various nationalities (some of them could not become such under Nazism). In the end, this is my life, given to all of us by great ancestors. Heroes.
N.S. Petrova, head of methodical office
In short, it's pain. Pain for those who could live, but had to die ...
Pain in the heart, which becomes stronger every year, because you understand more and more that time has passed, taking with you relatives and friends who gave you the opportunity to live, and you were too young and selfish to understand how they were waiting for your attention . The pain comes from the fact that history is being "reviewed" and "rewritten" and that even today in many countries the Victory itself is being called into question.
It becomes difficult to breathe when the march "Farewell of the Slav" sounds.
The first week of May is always the hardest for me. Willy-nilly you are "immersed in the topic." The mass media in a huge volume begin to "honor" and "remember", every year adding "truthfulness" and fantasizing about patriotism: films, concerts, performances on every radio and television channel. Undoubtedly, this is necessary for the education of young people. It is important. But!.. The participants in the war, the children of the post-war period, today also old people, require daily attention and protection from modern "evaluators" of their actions during the war years. I am afraid that in 20-30 years their "war" will be viewed through the prism of the new time and they will try to find self-interest in their actions, condemn and evaluate them.
Probably, those who survived the Great Patriotic War, more than anything else, would like the war not to be repeated. That there were no wars at all. Maybe we don’t need to repeat the mistakes made by politicians and start to appreciate and respect all those people who risked their lives, protected the world, and today works alongside us as a teacher, educator, coach…
N.V. Korolevskaya, head of the OD “History. Geography. Social science"
For me, Victory Day is the only national holiday when you are really proud of the feat of your people. This war was a test for the Soviet Union - still a very young country. When I was at school, veterans often came to us, talked, always trying to avoid the death and horrors of war in stories. It seemed to us, Soviet teenagers, that it would be like this for a long time: veterans would always come to school on Victory Day. By historical standards, very little time has passed, and the veterans are gone - those real front-line soldiers who knew firsthand what an attack under machine-gun fire is when they are fettered by animal fear for their lives ...
So the moment has come when it is important not to distort the history of the war, to preserve the truth about it and to explain to modern teenagers what freedom is. Freedom to live in your own land. The website of the Ministry of Defense contains the Generalized Data Bank "Memorial", which contains information about the defenders of the Fatherland. Here I found information about Private Royal Nikolai Ilyich (this is my father-in-law), his Award List and personal data. In 1942, while serving on the Southern Front near Taganrog, he suffered three wounds, repaired a telephone line, neutralized three fascists, and was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree. He himself never told the details of his exploit; real veterans have always been distinguished by personal modesty. Perhaps our cadets will find on this site the names of their loved ones, then we will be able to compile lists of our ancestors - heroes of the Patriotic War.
E.E. Herman, methodologist of the Education Department
For me, Victory Day is a medal about two sides. On the one hand, I am the granddaughter of a native of Ryazan, an artilleryman-order-bearer, shell-shocked, wounded ... On the other hand, I am the granddaughter of a Russian Volga German who spent the entire war in the mines of Altai, crippled there and repressed only because he was a German by blood ...
I saw in Berlin the graves of our 18-year-old lieutenants who were killed on May 14, 1945, after the capitulation of the Nazis! I personally know a 93-year-old native Berliner who has been going to the grave of her 19-year-old German husband, who was killed in 1945 in Romania for 70 years...
Victory Day or Memorial Day? A day of joy or a day of sorrow?
It could not have been in the history of the great Russian people of this day! Who are we if not winners? And truly who are the winners, if not WE? After all, "our cause is right"!
But there is also a PRICE ... If there were no this war in the history of Russia, that would be good! Any mother, wife, sister, daughter, who gave the most precious thing to the war - a loved one, will tell you so. Any man who has buried a friend, brother will say so.
Patriotism is not only about winning, but also about KNOWING. To UNDERSTAND. NOT TO FORGET. TO NOT ALLOW.
E.G. Boyko, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Methodologist of the Educational Department
No matter how much they talk about this holiday, it will sound either too modest or too pretentious. Victory Day is a truly national holiday that unites different generations of Russians. On the ninth of May, patriotic feelings are intensified, and you are proud of the great people who have accomplished an unprecedented feat. I am proud that I was born in this country and belong to this people! In addition, on this day I remember my grandfathers who went through the war, and grandmothers who survived this terrible time in the rear. I always regret that I learned so little from them about the war, because they did not like to talk about it ... The realization of the importance of their memories, unfortunately, came over the years. Happy Victory Day everyone!
· Probably, for me it is a look into the past from the other side. What would our future be like without these sacrifices, without the valor of our veterans...
The day when the whole country remembers the heroes...
A day of joy and sorrow...
· Victory Day is an unforgettable day for all of us. It is both sad and joyful, but we must be strong and believe that the Motherland for us is the most important thing in life...
· One of the most important holidays. It seems to me that even those who were not at war feel the joy of that day...
· Victory Day is a great date when my homeland gathered all its strength into a fist and defeated the Germans. It's sad that so many people died...
· The memory of the dead people, of their relatives, of blood, murders and cruelty, of the fighting spirit, with the help of which we won. I am proud of my grandparents who took part in the war...
· Sadness and joy. It is a pity for those who died for us, it is joyful that this hell is over...
· For veterans and for everyone else, this is more than a holiday: it is the day when we won, when the war ended!..
The day on which people were freed from torment, from grief ...
· If not for those who gave their lives for us and for the Motherland, we would not have been born. The Great Patriotic War is the most terrible war in the history of Russia. I want to say "thank you" to the people who saved Russia...
· Victory Day is a holiday of all people of the world. The victory was won at the cost of numerous lives, and all thanks to the thirst for freedom, love for the Motherland. If they had not won this Victory, we would not be here now, we would all be slaves ...
Mourning, memory of the heroes, the grief that mothers experienced, the joy of victory, gratitude to the defenders of the Fatherland...
Holy feast...
· For me it is admiration, sadness and joy at the same time. When I remember what these people, veterans, went through, I feel sad. For me, this is a holy day...
· Great day in the history of the country.
· Day of the end of the most terrible war.
· For me, this is the greatest holiday. I express my gratitude to all the dead and surviving veterans.
Day of Sorrow.
Day of remembrance of the grandfather, who was shell-shocked and died in 2005.
· The holiday of the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany, the holiday of veterans who survived the fierce battles for their homeland.
· Day of respect and memory. A day when we remember the deeds and sacrifices and hope that this nightmare will never happen again.
· The day when people are sad, but they should have fun, rejoice at the Victory. I like to watch documentaries about the war and give flowers.
· It is a sacred day. What huge sacrifices this victory was achieved. So many lives were given for us that it is impossible not to celebrate the Victory Day. This is a day of joy and sorrow at the same time. From the bottom of my heart I thank all those who defended our Motherland, who took care of us...
· Memorial Day of the Victory.
Day of Remembrance for the Lost Relatives.
· The day when we remember relatives and friends who did not spare themselves and gave their lives so that we could live it right.
· A day to congratulate and remember veterans, all those who served, who tried for the future of the whole country, thanks to whom we live in peace today.
· This is the day when you can be proud of your country.
· I do not know for sure. When you wake up on May 9, you feel some kind of joyful, happy feeling. Not because it's a day off, but why - I can't describe. This is the best holiday of the year.
· Victory over the enemy.
Celebration of Life.
· The day when I feel the unity and power of my country.
Great joy for the living and great sorrow for the dead.
For many, this is a very sad holiday, as it is a memory of those who were once lost...
· The memory of the fallen and pride for the victorious.
· The day when we remember the horrors of war, when we realize that we need to make sure that they never happen again...
The day they say "thank you".
It's the day your grandma smiles and cries at the same time...
· Parade of military equipment on Red Square.
· The day when the torment and pain of people ended. War is scary.
· A reason to be proud of the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War.
· The day when we say “thank you” to grandparents, great-grandparents and great-grandfathers for life.
· On this day, the main people of Russia are veterans, people who fought for their Motherland.
· Day of Remembrance. On this day, veterans, remembering those years, cry, and looking at them, it becomes sad, but often these are not tears of grief, but tears of joy that the war is over. A day not to be forgotten.
· These are thousands of lives given for freedom, love, for our lives. A day in which we should remember this and be grateful.
Pride in one's country.
Unity Day. Only thanks to unity, the country was able to defeat the enemy.
· The day of those who lived through that terrible time, who fought at the front, giving their lives without hesitation for the happiness of future generations. Day of Remembrance of the people who fought in the rear, the victims of concentration camps, all those who died in that war...
Liberty Day. A day to say thank you for giving us the future...
To celebrate it or not is everyone's business. But be sure to remember it! On this day, we remember the dead and the living, soldiers and civilians - all thanks to whom victory was won in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The whole country salutes the soldiers who fought for our freedom against the Nazi invaders, so remembering this day is a must. We were not ready for war, but we won it. This holiday is a gratitude to those people who gave their lives for their homeland. Although I do not agree that on this day they have a disco in our park. Concert, rally, parades, fireworks - it's good. But to arrange ordinary dances is stupid. Previously, as far as I remember, there were demonstrations where columns with balloons and flags marched, now these traditions are returning, columns of military equipment are marching in many cities, demonstrating their power! It is very important to remind people that they live in a strong country that can defend itself just as much as before.
Maria, 19 years old
For me, May 9th is a great holiday. A holiday for all who owe the fallen and survivors of the battlefield of those times that we live a free life. This is a great holiday, indeed the most significant for all people around the world. The facts about the cruel and bloody Great Patriotic War went down in history and took root in the memory for many generations to come. And there is no way to let the current generations forget about this day. After all, witnesses of those monstrous events are still alive. Each of the veterans keeps the memory of the events of the war. Experiences about the loss of comrades-in-arms, the memory of torture in concentration camps and hunger are alive. Do not count all the tragic stories that the participants in the war experienced. Each of them has their own unique memories. It’s even scary to imagine what would have happened if we had lost the Great Patriotic War. After all, it is only thanks to our veterans that we live today and enjoy the peaceful sky above our heads. We have a future! So let's once again lay flowers at the Eternal Flame, in memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the victory. And we will say words of gratitude and sincere wishes of health and long life to the surviving veterans. We, the younger generation, remember and honor their deeds.
Alexey, 23 years old
The Day of Victory over fascist Germany in the Great Patriotic War is not in vain one of the most revered holidays - both in Russia and in the CIS countries. But is it still necessary to celebrate this day so widely? Especially considering the fact that Germany signed the surrender on the night of May 7-8. And in general, a lot of time has passed, there are fewer and fewer people who remember the events of those days. And we, who did not feel the hardships of the war years, do not understand the joy of victory to the same extent that they feel. There are many wars in the history of Russia, many victories, but we do not celebrate them all! Then you can celebrate the Battle of Kulikovo and the defeat of Napoleon. But we no longer celebrate the victory in these battles so widely, although they are no less significant for the history of Russia. Do not forget how the state treats the participants of past hostilities. I heard that this year the president has allocated personal cards and symbolic cash payments for veterans of the Great Patriotic War. The congratulations of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in honor of the 67th anniversary of the Victory will be limited to this, although many of the veterans live in crumbling huts and are in dire need of better living conditions. And instead of helping those who gave us freedom, we throw fireworks, concerts, parades. This holiday turns for many into an ordinary day off, on which you can go to a concert without thinking about what efforts our soldiers gave us this holiday. We forget about them - about those thanks to whom and for whom this holiday is.
Zinaida Fedorovna, 55 years old
May 9th is a big holiday in Russia. We have celebrated and will continue to celebrate. My father is a front-line soldier, many medals remained from him as a keepsake to his descendants. We always go with my family to his cemetery on May 9th. And my uncle survived the siege of Leningrad, he is no longer alive either. But the bright memory of them and their feat will live in my heart all my life. They did something for us that cannot be overestimated. They gave us freedom. They gave us a peaceful sky overhead. Thanks to them, you can not be afraid of tomorrow. I can't help but celebrate Victory Day, because it's the second birthday of my father and my uncle. The second birthday of the entire Soviet people. I consider it my duty to visit the cemetery and lay flowers on this great holiday as a token of gratitude for the future that has been given to us. I believe that those who do not respect the May 9th holiday do not respect themselves, their ancestors, or history. Everyone should know the history of war and victory, because as long as everyone remembers, as long as everyone is grateful to the fallen and the living, we are invincible. And I consider attempts to rewrite history to please fascism immoral and unprincipled. Such acts must be nipped in the bud.
Valentina Semyonovna, 49 years old
I want to say heartfelt thanks and wish health to all veterans and bow low to those who are no longer with us. Thanks to you we live! And this is already a lot. My father went to war in 1942 as an eighteen year old boy and returned home. On May 9, he always considered his second birthday, and, ironically, we buried him on June 22 - the day the terrible war began. He has always been and will always be my role model. How those who fought serve as an example for future generations. Thank you, warriors-liberators, and those who worked in the rear! Thanks to you, we are alive. Thanks to you, we are free. Thanks to you, our children wake up calmly and calmly go to school. Without you, there would be neither us, nor our country, nor our independence. May 9 is your holiday! We will keep him in our hearts and hold him sacred. And we will cultivate respect for him in our children and grandchildren.
Source "A Matter of Principle"
Victory Day for most Russians is the most important holiday of the year. This is a holiday that unites the nation with a sense of pride in the valor of their ancestors, fills the soul with sacred awe and tears of sorrow for the torment that has fallen to their lot. This is a holiday of the people-liberator, proud and glorious in its history. What does May 9th mean to you?
Andrey Burdaev, methodologist at the Center for Educational Information Technologies of the Komi Republican Institute for the Development of Education:
– These are the personal files and awards of my two grandfathers in the Internet archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Rewards for stopping and defeating the Nazi machine. This is the grave of my grandfather in his small homeland - he died shortly after the war due to his injuries. May 9 is an eternal reminder that Russian patriotism in its best historical traditions has always been and will be international and will never acquire even the smallest signs of Nazism.
Vasilisa Grechneva, editor-in-chief of the Siyaniye Severa newspaper, Vuktyl:
- For me, May 9 is a day of remembrance, mourning and peace. Memorial Day, because my family went through the crucible of a terrible war and survived. My grandfathers fought, and my grandmother spent part of her childhood in concentration camps in Poland and Germany. Day of Sorrow - because too many lives were given for the Victory. Peace Day, because thanks to this
Victory, we live in a big country and have the opportunity to raise our children in peace and harmony. I am proud of my family and everyone who participated in that war, who rebuilt the country in the difficult post-war years.
Pavel Potashov, co-chairman of the regional headquarters of the All-Russian Popular Front:
- When I was a schoolboy and went to a pioneer camp, I saw many people at the half-stations without legs or arms with medals and orders on old, worn out jackets. There was no awareness that these were war veterans, apparently due to their young age. During my service in the army in 1974, I remember for his kindness to the soldiers, the deputy commander, an elderly lieutenant colonel, a war veteran. My mother had three older brothers who fought at the front, one died. All this somehow took shape, like puzzles, into a kind of picture from books and films about her, about hard military work. I read a lot and continue to read about the war and often think: what would I do in this or that situation? And I am simply amazed at the possibilities of a human soldier that have opened up for me, because, as they say, it is soldiers who win battles. It was also a discovery for me that Victory Day was not celebrated until 1965. That for a long time women veterans hid their participation in the war. Years have passed, I am 60, and I feel two ways: I feel pride for the people of the USSR, who won the great war, and the guilt of the state for forgetting veterans (we are still “improving living conditions”). It is especially sad that hundreds of thousands of fighters who died on the battlefields have not yet been buried. And I do not see here the role of the state, which once sent them to die for their homeland. But they say: “Until the last soldier is buried, the war is not over!”
Thanks to the search engines - they are as close as possible to its end.
Artur Evgrafov, General Director of Versailles LLC, Kortkeros District:
- May 9 is a bright holiday for me, grandfather participated in the Great Patriotic War -
No, my grandmother is a home front worker. Were it not for such selfless and courageous people, we would now walk as slaves of fascist Germany. Joyful and sad at the same time on this day. Joyful for the Victory, sad for the many millions of losses suffered by the Soviet people.
Natalya Logina, deputy of the council of Syktyvkar:
- My grandfather Ivanov Vasily Ivanovich went to war when he already had six children. He had something to protect. He was a sapper and defended Leningrad on the Black River. Four children died during the war. So much for the terrible phrase "children of war." Not everyone survived, and who survived, it's just a miracle. Thank God, my grandfather returned from the war alive and well, and four more were born with his beloved wife Maria Alekseevna. So for me the Great Victory is a miracle that my mother survived the war and I was born. This is pride for my grandfather and for my family. Respect for veterans, home front workers, for the children of the war for the fact that at the cost of superhuman efforts they gave us peace.
Sergey Gagauzov, director of the Children's Art School, chairman of the Public Council of Vorkuta:
- From early childhood, Victory Day for me is the most important day that I have been looking forward to for a whole year. Both of my beloved grandfathers were still alive: Sasha and Mitya - that's what I called them, they went through the whole war and returned home with a victory. One was a scout, the second was a machine-gun platoon commander. I clung all their awards to a T-shirt that I bought for growth. This T-shirt, like a ceremonial uniform, I could only wear once a year. The main award - the Order of Alexander Nevsky, received by grandfather Sasha for a bloody battle, where he destroyed more than 50 Nazis, I attached in the very center of my "uniform". In my hands I held a real PPSh combat machine - a nominal award to grandfather Mitya - from the command for the extraction of a particularly valuable "language", and from the hands of my father I received combat one hundred grams of cream soda and three rubles in honor of the holiday.
I felt like a hero, it seemed to me that I was involved in the feat of my grandfathers, because I was born in Stalingrad, the city that survived the great battle, the city from where the victorious march of Soviet troops to Berlin began.
Today, my grandfathers are no longer alive, and my grandmother Shura, who in the summer of 1944, along with my dad, was bombed in Poland, is no longer alive. Before her eyes, a young Polish woman with a baby was killed. This child, nurtured and adopted by my grandmother, later became my named uncle.
But I still remember a fragment from a shell sticking out of my temple, and scars from a machine-gun fire that disfigured the chest, making it, as my grandfather used to say, like a battlefield after a battle. With these marks of war they lived all their lives. There were orders and medals that were given to me by my dad with a will to pass them on to my children, and then to the children of my children. Military orders and medals with caked blood stains are a reminder of a terrible tragedy, this is a memory of the feat of my grandfathers and all the people in the Great Patriotic War. May 9 is a truly great day, a day that I, my children, all of us need to remember and prevent new wars.
"Respublika" continues a joint project with the Public reception of the head of Komi. In addition to permanent experts, members of the republican expert council take part in the traditional weekly poll on topical and controversial topics, whose comments are collected by specialists of the Public reception.
